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Two Air Force C-17 transport planes sit on the tarmac just in front of the headquarters building at Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico during this undated picture.

Photo by Courtsey of MCAF Quantico

MCAF/ Quantico realignment in place

26 Nov 2014 | John Hollis Marine Corps Base Quantico

They remain two distinct entities, but Marine Corps Base Quantico and the neighboring Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico have officially partnered up with smoother daily operations in mind.

 

Per the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding that went into effect on Oct. 1, MCAF has been realigned from Marine Corps Installations East to Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region. According to the agreement, MCAF, which is the home of Marine Helicopter Squadron One, is now considered a subordinate installation to MCINCR. Nothing has changed for HMX-1.

 

The parties involved hailed the arrangement for making more logistical sense as it officially makes MCAF Quantico part of the National Capital Region.

 

“We are happy to be part of the MCINCR team and belong to a region that has a good feel for Quantico-based challenges and opportunities,” said Lt. Col. Vincent J. Ciuccoli, commanding officer, MCAF Quantico. “It was always a good idea to include us in a region that governs the area in which we operate.”

 

Col. David W. Maxwell, the commander of MCB Quantico who also heads MCINCR, said the transition continues to go very well.

 

“The realignment of MCAF Quantico within the context of MCINR kind of helps affirm the regional construct,” he said.

 

MCINCR-MCBQ is obligated to provide “administrative and logistical support,” according to the MOU, while MCIEast, which is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, will continue to provide aviation support for MCAF Quantico.

 

MCAF hopes to not be alone in joining MCINCR, according to Ciuccoli. Other NCR commands such as Marine Barracks Washington at 8th and I Streets could follow suit in the near future, although nothing is definitive as of yet.

 

The deal, which first began coming together this spring, was reached after extensive eliberations between Ciuccoli ; Maxwell;  Brig. Gen. Robert F. Castellvi, commanding general, MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune; and Maj. Gen. Juan G. Ayala, commander, Marine Corps Installations Command.

 

“It was the right mix of parties in the room,” said Ciuccoli, who also credited the aviation background of Col. Allen D. Broughton, chief of staff, MCINCR-MCB Quantico for helping move things along.

 

“We weren’t afraid of change. We knew that with change comes challenges, but, with that, also comes opportunities.”

 

John Rosewarne, director, Business Performance Office at MCB Quantico, said the transition has gone smoothly.

 

“Once the COs got together, then it became a simple matter of staff planning,” he said.

 

Chief among the benefits of the realignment is the streamlined logistics that will make for a better quality of life for MCAF Marines, said Ciuccoli and his staff. Rather than have to route everything hundreds of miles away through Camp Lejeune, MCAF officials said that things have already become much more efficient and that it’s become easier to coordinate logistics and information technology related business with nearby points of contact at MCB Quantico.

 

“It really benefits us to be a part of MCINCR,” said Sgt. Ellen Holland, logistics chief and barracks manager, MCAF.

 

Maxwell went further, saying the realignment improves matters of joint security force protection and emergency response by eliminating the “degree of uncertainty” that followed with two neighboring installations answering to differing commands.

 

But the transformation hasn’t come without its challenges, however.

 

Making sure the performance of HMX-1, which ferries the president and other high-ranking dignitaries, never suffered as a result was paramount to all parties involved. MCB Quantico lacks the aviation expertise in matters such as maintenance or the aviation plans and policy oversight necessary to assume that role for MCAF, so MCIEAST will continue in that role. Likewise, if there were an aviation support-related problem in the past, MCAF officials knew where to look at MCIEAST, which presides over three other airfields on the East Coast, to get the problem fixed.

 

But working out the levels of coordination necessary to clear those significant hurdles doesn’t come easily. Reaching a similar comfort level with MCINCR will take time.

 

“It’s a work in progress,” Ciuccoli said.

 

jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com


Marine Corps Base Quantico